->Fdom5997 at 19:47, 2 November 2021

2021-11-02T19:47:27Z

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{{Short description|Sino-Tibetan language spoken in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Lotha
| nativename =
| states = [[India]]
| region = [[Wokha district]], [[Nagaland]]
| ethnicity = [[Lotha Naga]]
| speakers = 179,467
| date = 2001 census
| ref = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html|title=Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011|publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|website=www.censusindia.gov.in|access-date=2018-07-07}}</ref>
| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan
| iso3 = njh
| glotto = loth1237
| glottorefname = Lotha Naga
}}
The '''Lotha language''' is a [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] language spoken by approximately 180,000 people in [[Wokha district]] of west-central [[Nagaland]], India. It is centered in the small district of Wokha (capital Wokha). This district has more than 114 villages such as Pangti, Maraju (Merapani), [[Englan]], Baghty (Pakti) and others, where the language is widely spoken and studied.

== Names ==
Alternate names include Chizima, Choimi, Hlota, Kyong, Lhota, Lotha, Lutha, Miklai, Tsindir, and Tsontsii (''Ethnologue'').

== Dialects ==
''[[Ethnologue]]'' lists the following dialects of Lotha.

*Live
*Tsontsu
*Ndreng
*Kyong
*Kyo
*Kyon
*Kyou
In the ''[[Linguistic Survey of India]]'', linguist George Abraham Grierson analyzed various branches of languages in India and categorized various Naga languages into three groups: Western Naga, Eastern Naga, and Central Naga.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CM7uC2W58wcC&pg=PA75|title=Naga Identity|last=Kumar|first=Braj Bihari|date=2005-01-01|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-8069-192-8|page=75}}</ref> Lotha falls into the Central Naga group, which also includes the languages [[Ao language|Ao]], [[Sangtam language|Sangtam]], and [[Yimchungrü language|Yimchungru]].<ref name=":0" />

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]/ [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal fricative|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Stop consonant|Plosive]]
!voiceless
|p
|t
|
|k
|ʔ
|-
!aspirated
|pʰ
|tʰ
|
|kʰ
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Affricate]]
!voiceless
|p͡f
|t͡s
|t͡ʃ
|
|
|-
!vd./aspirated
|p͡v
|t͡sʰ
|t͡ʃʰ
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
!voiceless
|f
|s
|ʃ
|
|h
|-
!voiced
|v
|z
|ʒ
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
!voiced
|m
|n
|ɲ
|ŋ
|
|-
!aspirated
|mʰ
|nʰ
|ɲʰ
|ŋʰ
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
!voiced
|
|l
|
|
|
|-
!aspirated
|
|lʰ
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
!voiced
|
|r
|
|
|
|-
!aspirated
|
|rʰ
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
!voiced
|w
|
|j
|
|
|-
!aspirated
|
|
|jʰ
|
|
|}

* /v/ when followed by /o/ can also be heard as [w] in free variation.
* The pronunciation of the trills /r, rʰ/ may vary as approximants [ɹ, ɹʰ] or a retroflex fricative [ʐ] among speakers.
*/j/ only occurs as phonemically aspirated as /jʰ/ among other dialects.
*Plosives /p, k/ can be heard as unreleased [p̚, k̚] in word-final position.

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|- align="center"
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|i
|
|u
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|e
|ə
|o
|- align="center"
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|a
|
|}

* When /u/ follows a labial consonant or /k, kʰ/, the consonant is then affricated and /u/ is realized as unrounded [ɯ]. The result is then from /ku, kʰu, pu, pʰu/ to [kvɯ, kfɯ, pvɯ, pfɯ].
*/i/ may also tend to centralize and lower as [ɨ, ə] in open syllables when following sibilant sounds (/ʃi/ ~ [ʃɨ~ʃə]).
* /ə/ may also range in pronunciation to a back sound [ɯ].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bruhn|first=Daniel W.|title=Proto-Central Naga; Lotha|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|year=2014|location=A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Central Naga|pages=151-154}}</ref>
*/i, u/ can also be heard shortened as [ɪ, ʊ] within the first syllable.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Acharya|first=K. P.|title=Lotha grammar|publisher=Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages|year=1983}}</ref>

== Orthography and literature ==
Lotha is written in the [[Latin script]], introduced by the British and American missionaries in the late 19th century. It is a medium of education up to the post-graduate level in the state of Nagaland. It is also the language in which the church sermons are preached. The [[Bible]] has been translated into the Lotha language, adding significantly to its vocabulary, which had an influence of [[Assamese language|Assamese]] and [[Hindi]].

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_njh_gen-1 Translation of the beginning of the Book of Genesis in Lotha].
* [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan Languages]]
* [http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/5659 Endangered Languages Project: Lotha Naga]

{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Kuki-Chin–Naga languages}}
{{Languages of Northeast India}}

[[Category:Ao languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Nagaland]]
[[Category:Endangered languages of India]]

Lotha language - Revision history

->Fdom5997 at 19:47, 2 November 2021